Redheaded Prince
by Elphaba01
Summary: Jane Potter, Gryffindor Quidditch extraordinaire and proud member of the Marauders, expects to be granted access to jump straight into the arms of the gorgeous Liam Evans by the end of sixth year. But she learns that its not as simple as that. You've go to jump over barriers first. Genderswap! AU. JP/LE
1. Prologue

**Hey guys! New storaay!**

**This idea has been nagging me for absolutely _ages_. So yes, I should be starting a sequel for my other story and I should be updating everything else and I generally should be not putting up work for myself, but... meh.**

**Tis the way it goes for me now. EHEH**

**Oh, and about the story - when I mean genderbent, I MEAN genderbent. I'm trying for everything to be different genders, and the complications of this. Well, obviously people will have different last names but for the purposes of this story, lets start the genderbending from Marauders downwards.**

**I think its best if you just read and see, really.**

**Reviews are really appreciated, since this is my first time really trying to spin things off ;) Enjoy! **

* * *

Prologue

_"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." _

_– _Ayn Rand

**SEPTEMBER, 1971**

'_HUFFLEPUFF_!'

Jane applauded as a shy, smiling boy quickly walked to the long table of Badgers, feeling nervousness bubble inside her stomach. She didn't know why she felt so anxious; her father assured her that all the Potters got in Gryffindor – well, with the exception of _some _but still, she was undoubtedly a Gryffindor.

If freely approaching a Black, pranking six seventh year Slytherins with said Black and taking an unintentional dip in the lake while not screaming at all didn't count as courageous, then she was a hippogriff.

She _had_ to be Gryffindor.

It was destiny – she could feel it in her very _bones_.

Next to her, Saiph – the sly, funny Black girl who helped her set off those dungbombs – nudged her side and gave her a grin. 'You look as if you just wet in your knickers and just escaped the wrath of a Hungarian Horntail.'

'Well, I just want to get this over with,' she defended in part-truth, but it sounded half-hearted as a young, severe-looking man with combed-back hair hidden under an emerald hat read out the name 'Adams, Jonah!'

With a snort, Saiph shook her head, her long dark locks bouncing; somehow she still managed to look casually graceful despite how much she didn't seem to care. 'You're a Potter, Potter,' she reassured, a sparkle in her eyes at the weird sentence as the hat roared '_RAVENCLAW_!', both of them absentmindedly clapping their hands. 'At least all your family before you were Gryffindors.'

'_Mostly _Gryffindors.'

'Mostly Gryffindors, then,' Saiph corrected, rolling her eyes. 'Blacks have always been a long line of Slytherins.'

Jane suddenly felt something she never felt before, as if a knot had been tied between them – not _literally_, of course, but inside. It seemed that the Black had felt it too, since they both looked at each other with odd expressions.

A long, tense silence passed between the two, feeling slightly awkward at the friendship unknowingly being knitted like her grandmother's signature oversized socks, until the teacher – McGonagall, she remembered – called out Saiph's name.

Saiph's face went pale as Jane encouragingly squeezed her fingers. 'Save me a seat in Gryffindor,' the Potter whispered with a wink.

Sending her a scowl, Saiph made her way to the stool and moodily plonked herself on it, pulling the hat on her head. Her grey eyes travelled up and seemed to argue with the piece of scrappy clothing for a full five minutes, once dropping her jaw, as if offended.

The hall was completely pin-drop silent until the Sorting Hat came out with three syllables Jane was much thankful for: '_GRYFFINDOR_!'

Jane broke out in a grin, at first nobody seeming to do anything – Jane could see Saiph's unusual nervous change of demeanour miles away, her eyes looking everywhere, expecting a break out of clapping.

And that's what Jane gave her new friend. She started clapping, even wolf-whistling, the Black for a few seconds when a brown-haired girl followed her lead, then a plump, short blonde girl joined in, until the whole school ended up applauding; the only ones who weren't were the Slytherins, who were glaring and seething with anger.

Saiph had the nerve to give an eccentric bow, gratefully grinning Jane's way.

'What was all that about?'

Jane turned sharply around to see a freckly boy with dark red hair and striking green eyes, a confused expression on his face. 'Oh, you're muggleborn?' Jane said quietly, choosing to ignore the drama at the front, and giving him an excited grin. 'I've never met a muggleborn before!'

'Of course you haven't,' a greasy-haired, unfortunately beak-nosed girl sneered, nostrils flaring. 'You're a Potter.'

'Well, you're a... a _someone_,' Jane defended in proud tone, tipping her head back slightly and crossing her eyebrows, despite the fact that this particular girl was rather tall and frightening. 'Who are you?'

'Selena Snape,' Selena said, cold dark eyes cutting holes in her own hazel ones as she took out her hand, a Pureblood way of greeting. Jane, being accustomed to this, took it reluctantly. 'And this is my friend, Liam Evans.'

'Hullo,' Liam, the redhead, said awkwardly, giving a hesitant smile Jane realised she didn't mind seeing.

'Evans, Liam!' the teacher called. Liam knitted his eyebrows at Selena before determinedly going through the crowd. It only took about ten seconds for the hat to decide '_GRYFFINDOR_!', and with a sympathetic smile towards his companion he sat next to Saiph.

The Sorting continued, Jane inwardly cursing the Potter name; why couldn't she be an A? Or a B, like Saiph? It would be far more efficient if she was a _Botter_, wouldn't it?

She giggled quietly to herself. _Botter_.

The brown-haired girl who clapped for Saiph went a few silent minutes afterwards, her name being Rhino or Ear Loopy or something and going into the honourable house of Gryffindor, and so did a dirty blonde-haired boy with weirdly elf-like ears called Mark McDonald and another Italian-coloured one named Marcus McKinnon (who wasn't so hard on the eyes also, despite their current age of eleven).

No one else really struck out to her; she couldn't help glancing back at the red-haired freckly boy with interest. His eyebrows were crossed in annoyance, squeezed in between Saiph and She-Whose-Name-Was-Unknown-Or-An-Animal and looking seriously displeased.

'You look like a right pervert,' the plump blonde one from before whispered in her ear, both of them giving a small, immature giggle as Jane quickly turned away. Surprisingly, Selena, the blonde and her were the only ones left – in fact, Selena was already making her way towards the Slytherin table –

'Oh ... _poop_,' she muttered. 'I'm the last one!'

'Sorry,' the blonde said sheepishly. 'I'm a –'

'_SLYTHERIN_!'

'... not a Slytherin,' laughed the girl nervously, big blue eyes slightly watering, as if she felt intimidated.

'Pettigrew, Polly!'

'That's me.' Polly's face went a bright red, leaving her to awkwardly stand on her own as the Sorting Hat took even longer on Polly than it did with Saiph. Finally, though, the Hat yelled out '_GRYFFINDOR_!' and she skipped towards the sacred table.

'Potter, Jane!'

Feeling the rush of everyone watching, she acknowledged McGonagall with a casual salute, smirking at his surprised, unenthused quirk of his bushy grey eyebrows. She didn't even feel the Sorting Hat reach her head when it yelled out the words she waited for _years_ – '_GRYFFINDOR!_'

_Worrying for nothing_, Jane could hear her mother tut, making her grin as she whispered her thanks to the Hat. Oddly enough, she could see it slightly smiling when the bloke in the emerald hat, McGonagall – yep, he was still scowling – took it off her head and set it on the staff table. Shaking her head, she practically ran to the Gryffindors, who all applauded generously.

She saw Saiph stand from her chair and whistle just like Jane did, grinning. Giving a relieved sigh, she nodded her gratitude and sat opposite her, the brunette and Liam, sliding towards Polly's side casually.

'We're lions!' Saiph exclaimed loudly, throwing her hands in the air and choosing to ignore the teachers' glares.

The brunette snorted, as if it was an inside joke, and shifted around in effort to look over the heads. Sensing an opportunity, Jane leaned over the table and whispered, 'Rhino, right?'

Saiph burst out laughing – disrupting Dumbledore in mid-speech in the process – as the girl in question struggled to keep a straight face. Liam crossed his eyebrows disapprovingly. 'Rhea, actually,' Rhino – no, _Rhea_ – corrected, now smiling kindly. 'Rhea Lupin.'

Jane felt her face burn, choosing to focus on Dumbledore – a tall, thin lady with colourful robes, long braided grey hair, a badly crooked nose and a part-creepy, part-gratifying twinkle in her eyes. 'I'm sure you'll all agree that it is rather obvious that the Forbidden Forest is indeed forbidden for all Hogwarts students, and for those who do trespass shall receive brutal consequences.'

She swore her eyes flickered towards her, expecting her to already fess up for breaking rules. Shrugging innocently, Dumbledore continued, 'Before we dig in to the glorious feast the house elves have kindly prepared for us, I must introduce you to our newest member of our staff that will teach students Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Melissa Cake. I'm sure you will treat her respectfully.'

Glancing at Saiph from across the table, she tried to hold in her laughter as she applauded the teacher, a small, chubby woman whose smile looked slightly false. 'Sure that'd be a tasty class,' Polly mumbled from next to her, making her burst into snickers with a snort.

'Or will it be crummy?' Rhea added quietly, her amber eyes sparkling.

'Her homework will be a plateful,' Saiph added.

'Merlin's beard,' said Jane, grinning, looking at the three girls surrounding her. 'This is the start of a _beautiful_ friendship.'

'Hear, hear!' Saiph celebrated as loudly as she could without being noticed.

Liam scowled at them all, clearly annoyed. 'Do you _ever _shut up?' he snapped, scrunching up his nose, leaning slightly across the table. 'All throughout this whole thing, you've been talking!'

That was when Jane was really hit how unique this boy was – his hair was neatly combed but messy at the same time, though not nearly as untidy as hers was; his eyes, as green as leaves on a bright summer's day – they somehow brightened when he got angry or annoyed, she realised; he was small for his age, yeah, but so was she.

She didn't know what came over her when she grinned goofily, fixing her hair (only to make it even messier) and saying at a tone that _so _was not hers, 'Well, sir, I _am_ a motor-mouth.'

He squinted, frustrated at her answer. 'I'm trying to listen.'

'Yeah, we _should_ listen, really,' Rhea admitted, but Dumbledore was already ending her sentence with an odd exclamation and a wide arm gesture.

Liam gawped as the food materialised on the table, taking a shocked intake of air. 'That's _amazing_.'

Crossing her eyebrows, she fought for his attention again, liking the feel of the unfamiliar _flip flop _in her stomach. 'I'm Jane Potter, by the way. We didn't get properly introduced because of your, ah, _friend_.'

'Oh, I saw,' Saiph said, a disgusted expression on her face as she slightly stood up to see Selena awkwardly sitting by herself on the corner of the Slytherin table. 'What a _slimeball_.'

'Oi!' Liam said, his eyes flashing.

Laughing, Jane turned to glance at Selena and nodding agreeably with Saiph. 'She is a bit. Never thought of it before.'

'Mwahah!' Polly guffawed, catching on. 'Slimeball.'

'Can you _stop it_?' Liam's eyes caught Jane's, miffed. 'Selena's my friend. She's not a slimeball, or whatever you like to call her. I'd _hugely _appreciate it if you would quit being mean and _grow up_.'

If hearts could replace the shape of her eyes, at that moment, they would. Whilst beating profusely, preferably.

Because Jane realised, with a huge plummet of her tummy, that Liam would be her redheaded prince. All those Muggle stories about knights in shining armour and beautiful maidens in towers waiting to be rescued flashed across her mind as he glared furiously at her, and she replied with a smile and a "smooth" run through her tangled long hair.

Yes. She would make Liam Evans be her redheaded, angry, passionate, handsome prince someday – even if that was the last thing she'd do.


	2. Chapter 1 - Bambi

Chapter 1: Bambi

_"You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing." _

- Michael Pritchard

**OCTOBER, 1974**

Throughout the years at Hogwarts, Jane had kept to her task. In fact, she spent a generous amount of time doing so, planning out flirting tasks and carrying them out with sheer perfection (most of the time, anyway). All of this while helping Saiph hexing a few Slytherins boys and giving the Slytherin girls a piece of her mind with harsh, deserving words.

Even _she _didn't know how she handled it all, but she did.

When she told them that their beautiful friendship would commence on the first day of Hogwarts, it did – Rhea, Polly, Saiph and her were the well-known inseparable Hogwarts quartet called "The Marauders", each member of the group valued to even people who weren't all that close to them.

Saiph was reckless, snarky, a joker and Jane's partner in crime, growing into a new Hogwarts beauty day by day and the best part of the school's male population at her feet. With a mastermind for pranks and brains for almost every subject without doing any revision, she snogged numerous of blokes in just one day for fun, not caring when jealous Hufflepuffs would call her slut and such things – well, she did. Every girl had to care at least a _little _bit of what people thought, and Saiph managed to hide it extremely well. She couldn't hide things from Jane, though, and from time to time had private chats about numerous boys that were extremely attractive at the time (though Saiph talked most on the subject), Liam (the subject Jane specialised), advice, and the terrible family life Saiph had at Grimmauld.

Though, Jane suspected Saiph was holding back on something in every one of these conversations, her suspicions rising – she knew that if she didn't know by the end of the year she'd burst.

On the other side of the wand, there was Polly; a flabby, short girl with large breasts who followed them everywhere, and looked up to them with watery eyes full of respect. But they didn't welcome her into the group because of sympathy – Polly _did _come out with the occasional wit, was a pretty good listener and a reliable source of gossip. She wasn't all that interested in romantic activities, but she did have a love for food – she basically lived in the kitchens, using the house elves for pillows. A failure of spells, Polly wasn't that much of a use during class, but was fun to work with anyways with the dumb things she would say.

In the middle of it all, was Rhea. She was the brains of the group, always being kind and caring to them like a mother. Before the secret of her being a werewolf was found out by her friends, she was reclusive and withheld, refusing to share any secrets and shutting them out. If it wasn't for the many scars etched onto her skin, she could've looked more exotic than Saiph – not that she was ugly; she was pretty in her own bruised, nerdy way. She read romance novels and often expressed her feelings on such matters by uncontrollably blathering on about the cuteness of it all, only able to hold the interest of Jane for five minutes until she dozed off.

... and then there was Jane.

Jane didn't know how to describe herself – she was no leader, no gorgeous model or a pudgy shy one, no nerd or slut or one to blend in. She wasn't as confident as she made it out to be – she was _so_ utterly embarrassed of her unfashionable, rounded glasses and unmanageable hair that she dared not to mention it to even Saiph – and was more comfortable with the jokey, insensitive part of her than the vulnerable one. Vulnerable was unchartered territory. Out of bounds. Closed.

Perhaps a word for her was ... ah, determinedly loyal Quidditch crazy psychopath who enjoyed impressing a redheaded boy who frankly despised her with every fibre of his being.

She wasn't joking.

Liam Evans was bloody _hard_ to _impress_.

He liked girls like Rhea – clever, studious, serious and sometimes even _greasy_; no day went by when Jane wasn't jealous of Snape, of how close the two friends were while Liam kept pushing her away. He liked Selena, perhaps even fancied her and the way she kept studying and that stupid beaky nose...

And even in the things that _could _impress him, she had to keep a secret. She found out the signs of a werewolf after a short period of time (two years) with _no _lessons about it, created the a map that could tell you where everyone was, knew more than most fifth year students about hexing and _was brewing an Animagus potion_ –

'Jane?'

She blinked away the sleep in her eyes, letting out a quiet groan. Fingers insistently clicked in front of her face, and she nearly let out a scream when she saw Polly and Saiph's face waiting expectantly mere inches away from her nose, breathing quickly at the shock.

'Wake up, sleepyhead!' Saiph sang, grabbing Jane's pillow, her grin looking evil in the moonlight. 'Rise and shine! Today's the day!'

'Day of what?' she whined, flopping over to her side and glancing out the window. Stars. Stars and darkness. 'It's not even _day_. Now sod off.'

'The potion?' supplied Saiph, as if Jane was from the depths of stupidity. 'You know, the one we've been working on for _one bloody year_?'

Suddenly, the sleep vanished from her eyes and she shot up quickly, fumbling on her tank top, jeans and jacket. 'Should've said _that_,' she whispered harshly, slipping on her trainers and glancing Rhea's way; she was sleeping in a strange position, snoring wolfishly, Francesca Longbottom – a freckly girl with shortly cut brown hair that was anything but horrid, and head over heels for sixth year Alan Prewett – peacefully asleep on the bed next to hers. Grabbing the Cloak from the floor, she asked, 'Got the Map?'

'Yeah,' Polly answered, holding up the piece of parchment. 'Got it.'

They still hadn't figured out the introduction part of the Marauder's Map yet – Jane was waiting for inspiration to hit, her being the prime source of ideas. So far they'd only the password, the enchanted footprints and layout of the grounds sorted (except the infuriating part when they couldn't draw the Come and Go room; it wouldn't let them) – they had yet to do the labels of the people and a humorous intro.

Sneakily, they tip-toed out of the room, closing the Fifth Year Girls Dorm's door as quietly as possible and throwing the Cloak over them. There were still some Seventh Years larking around near the fire – two of them dangerously prefects – and they managed to complete the manoeuvre by opening the Gryffindor exit slowly and closing the Fat Man's portrait.

'Ooh!' the Fat Man shrieked rather femininely, looking around wildly. 'Who opened the door?'

'The ghost,' Saiph whispered teasingly, making her companions giggle as they crept down the stairs. The comedy quickly tired, though – Jane mumbling complaints about the castle's layout and how Hogwarts really should fix the corridors so that the left corridor wasn't separate to the right, Polly was moaning that she was hungry and breaking wind once in a while, and Saiph was annoyingly excited.

At long last, they successfully reached the wall on the Come and Go room. Polly checked for any footprints on the Map before Jane yanked the Cloak off, breathing in fresh air once again. 'Agh, Polly, you really should learn to hold those in,' Jane advised, wafting the hair in front of her nose and giving a relieved _fwoop_.

'Bloody stink bombs, those are! Don't see why we buy dungbombs while we have you,' Saiph sniggered, Polly's cheeks visibly going red even in the dark. The other two laughed openly, echoing across the halls.

'So what are we thinking of now?' Polly asked, trying to get them off the subject.

'A warm room with lighting and the Animagus potion.' Saiph looked at Jane for confirmation, holding the book titled _Animagi For Life_ tight in her hands. 'Right?'

Jane nodded. 'Right.'

They had brewed the potion in the Come and Go Room ever since the idea for illegally becoming Animagi struck them a year ago in fourth year, determinedly sneaking out at night three or four times a week and spending half the night preparing. They had to steal many of Slughorn's supplies, but the old professor didn't seem to notice – and if he did, he would only laugh about it, Jane and Saiph being one of his many unfairly proclaimed favourites.

Thinking hard on the sentence – _warm room with lighting and Animagus potion_ – she followed her companions walking to and fro three times until, with a loud creak, the door appeared, opening welcomingly as its dingy, orange glow lighted the whole corridor.

Smiling, she spotted the Saiph's cauldron that gurgled unattractively in the middle of the empty hall, its atmosphere warm but damp. Not exactly what she was hoping for, yes, but it was what they needed.

Throwing the book to the side, Saiph took out two empty perfume bottles from the pockets of her leather jacket, and generously dunked them in. The vile stench of the potion made Polly shrink away nervously; if poison smelled like anything, it would most definitely smell like _that_.

'Well?' said the Black, raising an eyebrow at her hesitant friends. 'What are you waiting for?'

'Nothing,' Jane said, walking forward to the opposite side of the cauldron. 'It's just ... it smells like shit and dead animal carcasses.'

'That's what it's _supposed _to smell like,' she replied, convinced, giving a small roll of her grey eyes. 'Now stop being babies and _drink it_. Rhea the _Rhino _is going to be Rhea the _Wolf_ this Christmas. Let's not let her be alone at the, ah, _time of festivity_, hm?'

Jane scowled at the well-known joke – her friends never let it go. 'Shut up, Black, and give me the damn vile.'

Grinning, she handed her one of two bottles that was filled with potion in her hands, bringing out another from her pocket, filling that one up to the brim with the vile liquid and handing it over to Polly.

'Thanks,' Polly said sarcastically, making Jane crack out a nervous laugh.

Breathing a big breath, Saiph ordered, 'On three. One, two –'

'WAIT WAIT _WAIT_!' Polly shrieked, the other two stopping themselves from drinking. 'Are you, um, sure this'll work?'

'Can never really be sure, Pol,' Jane confessed, giving a wince. 'But we have to do it. For Rhea.'

'Right. Yeah.' Polly scrunched up her face in determination, ashamedly resembling a pug. 'For Rhea.'

'Are we done dawdling?' Saiph said impatiently. Polly and Jane nodded. 'Okay. One, two –'

All three of them threw their heads back and drank the potion, ignoring the throbbing sting in their throats and the disgusting taste lingering their mouths. They didn't even stop to catch their breath, deciding it'd be over quicker that way, the sound of each glug echoing across the hall.

It was Jane who finished first, breathing heavily. 'Sweet Merlin, that's _horrible_.'

Polly was a quick second, her chubby face turning green. 'I think I'm going to be _sick_.'

'Don't be sick!' Saiph said quickly as soon as she was done, her eyes wide with alarm. 'It'd diminish the effects and, if worse comes to worse, you'll die a slow and painful death!'

'Wow, Saiph, look at you, learning new vocabulary,' Jane mused, sitting down on the floor, feeling tired once more.

'Shut up, Jane.'

'Sit down, will you? It feels better when you do.'

Hastily, Polly dropped down, a pleasured, relieved smile spreading out and the green becoming red once more. Saiph walked around the cauldron and gracefully sat herself down next to Jane, who sighed.

'D'you feel any different?' asked Polly, rubbing her belly subconsciously.

'I don't,' Saiph said. 'It tasted horrible, but nothing I'm not used to.'

'I'm not feeling especially animalistic, no,' said Jane. 'What does the book say?'

Saiph shuffled to retrieve the book, fingering through the pages until landing on the one headed _After Effects_. 'It says that we should start to change into our animals in about thirty minutes without our will. If we did it correct, that is.'

Polly swallowed anxiously. 'So we wait?'

'Yes. We wait.'

Tense silence fell over the trio, too nervous to talk or to converse in anything remotely casual. They didn't want to speak of what will happen, in fear of having permanent toad heads or furry skin for life. Instead of thinking of the ominous risk they brought upon themselves, Jane thought of a redhead that calmed her down even when he wasn't there.

She hoped what she was doing would impress him someday, when she had the opportunity to be close enough to him to tell her deepest secrets. Maybe she could show him the Map, and tell him jokes that he'd actually _laugh _at, and be in his presence without that Slytherin to make herself look bad.

She didn't really _mean _to come off nasty; she just didn't mix well with Slytherins – it was just who she was from the start, the die-hard Gryffindor. Her only contact with them was when she hexed or pranked them, or accompanied Saiph to tease them. Gryffindors and Slytherins were _destined_ to be enemies! Why couldn't Evans see that?

It wasn't fair.

Not fair _at all_.

'_Jane_!'

She turned her head sharply at Saiph's yell, and only saw her being surrounded by a vibrant blue glow until a ...

Well, until a huge black dog appeared.

'YES!' Jane shouted in victory, jumping up and throwing her hands in the air. Saiph bounced up and barked, parading in a dog-like fashion.

Then they were interrupted by a squeak coming from where Polly sat moments before, and Jane laughed outright as she picked Polly up and stared at her now toothy friend in fascination and wonder. A rat?

_A rat_?

She hoped she wouldn't be something pathetic, like ... like a _tadpole_, or something.

Suddenly, she felt a tug in her stomach and a quick flash of pain, a second of her bones elongating and insides growing – she wanted to yelp, but it came out as a weird snorting sound, and when she moved, there was a loud _clop_ –

_One second..._

She looked down and saw tall, gangly legs, with thin ginger-brown fur with freckles of white – not as tall as a horse, but not as small as a dog. She tried to walk, but collapsed immediately, proving the slow trot to be entirely draining. A muzzle – _Siaph_ – nudged her side in effort to help her get back on her feet, and a rat scuttled towards her.

Her smell became more enhanced, and her ears could move more freely, the sounds of the hall becoming louder. She could even hear her own breathing. Her big hazel eyes glancing hyperactively everywhere as she staggered back up, and it took only around another half-an-hour to freely walk around.

_Bloody fleas!_

Jane turned to spot Siaph, scratching her hind foot along her fur. She let out a breezy snort – her new animal language being just a bunch of snorts, she noticed – and trotted over. _You have fleas?_

Siaph paused for a moment, hearing her, before continuing. _YES! Don't you?_

_Hahah. No._

If dogs could glare, Siaph's eyes would pop out any second now. With a snarl, she grew back into her tall, aristocratic self, trying to keep a straight face. 'Hey! I haven't realised how much you look like Bambi!'

Knitting her eyebrows – if she had any eyebrows – she focused on being human once more; two arms, two legs, a nose, _proper _ears, tangled knotted hair... and just like that, she felt her forelegs shrinking into arms and her entire being becoming meatier once again. Well, as meaty as a fifteen-year-old Potter could be.

And then she was Jane once again.

'Bambi?' she repeated, squinting. Polly squeaked near her feet. 'What the hell is _Bambi_?'

'Muggle movie. I watched it before Mum threw out the TV I got, remember?'

Polly grew beside her, panting, and began to speak when her teeth shrank back to normal. 'Oh, I've watched Bambi. Dad and his crap Muggle obsession.'

Saiph looked at her sharply. 'Bambi's not _crap_! At least it doesn't have a worm for a tail, that's one thing!'

Polly's cheeks went red.

'It's a piece of art, actually. Probably the only thing Muggles are useful for.' Saiph turned to Jane. 'But yeah, with those big hazel eyes of yours – you're Bambi, my friend! Though, I think Bambi grows into a stag, not a doe... but still. You're Bambi when he was a fawn.'

'You looked rather masculine, _Padfoot_,' Jane laughed, nudging her shoulder playfully. 'You were so _excited_.'

'Bloody fleas, though,' Siaph groaned. 'Biting me all over. But it's a great feeling to be a dog, really is. Should transfigure you lot sometime, you know?'

'I had some fleas, too,' Polly offered. 'It's cool being small. I like it.'

'Weird being a doe, though. That's what I was, wasn't it?' Jane said hesitantly. 'A doe?'

Saiph nodded. 'Indeed, dear Fawn*****. You were a doe.'

* * *

**Yeah, Prongs is a no-no because Prongs is all about the horn thingies on a stag. Stags aren't girlies, see.**

**Do you see how the genders can change _a lot _of things?!**

**So, a little search into the names: Rhea is _still _from that Roman mythology tale about how Rome was created; Saiph - pronounced 'Safe' - ****is a star and can be turned into pun; Jane-James, JJ. I really didn't do much research in that one and with Polly-Peter, so screw me.**

**Saiph and Jane are basically really bigheaded and bitchy, because that's how they were in that time. Polly right now is loyal, but a bit of a wimp. An imbecilic wimp that I weirdly like writing.**

_***: 1/1/14 - I'm not calling Jane BAMBI. I changed it when I realised "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Bambi" didn't exactly **_**flow_. So it's Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Fawn, for Saiph's reasons of her looking like a baby deer._**

_**Thanks for the favourites! :3**_


	3. Chapter 2 - Lost Battle

2: Lost Battle

"_In a battle all you need to make you fight is a little hot blood and the knowledge that it's more dangerous to lose than to win."_

– George Bernard Shaw

**OCTOBER, 1974**

'Oi, Fawn. Look.'

Rolling her eyes at the nickname (Saiph had been dead on to making the nicknames official, and found it hilarious that Rhea had no idea where they came from), she looked up from her parchment – yes, she _was _doing her homework for once, the OWLs year already stressing even the Marauders (with the exception of Saiph, who wasn't even bothered in reading a page of anything) – and her eyes brightened. Down the aisle, with his cute focused face and green eyes studiously concentrating on one of the many books piled up on his desk, was Liam.

Her future husband was a mere ten steps away, in his realm of library beauty.

At least, it looked beautiful when he was in it.

Rhea – now known as Moony – knitted her eyebrows, shaking her head disapprovingly. 'I don't think that's a good idea, Jane,' she advised, not getting the hang of the nicknaming thing quite yet. 'Not in the library – you _know _he'll just shout at you, getting both of you kicked out, and consequently get even _madder_.'

'Pah!' she said, tossing away the suggestion jokingly. 'Moony. _Puh-leaase_. I've been doing this ever since _Second Year_.' Standing up, she chose to ignore the roll of Saiph's eyes and the twitter of Polly's snigger, taking a deep breath. 'Step aside, bitches, and let the Queen of Flirting come through.'

'Don't come crying to us when he rejects you.'

'Don't come asking me for the Maid of Honour position when he agrees!' she said with a huff, paying no attention to the bark of laughter from Saiph and marching determinedly towards the One.

A part of her almost didn't want to approach him. She suddenly craved to just stare at him from a distance instead, observing the cute little things he'd do. Before it was just a flimsy, fun fancy, just to annoy him and see his eyes go attractively angry, but now, she reflected, she actually found herself longing to be in those strong arms, hold those big hands, even be _kissed_.

And Merlin, did she _hate _teenage hormones.

But the other part of her felt angry that she wouldn't get noticed the way she wanted to, wanted to confront the problem in the usual jokey manner she'd do a million times before. She couldn't possibly walk up to him and be – well, her usual self, especially in an awkward place like this. That'd be vulnerable.

She couldn't possibly do _that_.

If he got annoyed, angry – she'd still get _some _sort of attention, wouldn't she? It was a win-win, really.

So she decided to go with the option she chose the most, skipping towards him and smoothly sitting across him, running her hands through her hair and giving him a wink. He didn't look up, but she saw the usual tension of his shoulders whenever she arrived onto the scene.

Inwardly, she sighed. Again, she stupidly made the wrong choice.

This wasn't going to end well.

It was only the fourteen thousandth time.

But now that she was there, she had to go along with it.

After a few silent moments of extravagant winking, holding her breath to make embarrassingly flat chest look bigger and biting her lip, he broke the silence, face still buried in his book. 'What do you want, Potter?'

_You_. But she couldn't say that. 'You, sir, look absolutely _ravishing _today, d'you know that?'

'Not today, Potter,' he said. 'I'm trying to write that huge Potions essay Slughorn assigned yesterday, and I can't concentrate with you around.'

She smirked, leaning forward on the table. 'I have that effect on people.'

He only sighed.

'I'm important to you, aren't I?' A flush of celebration engulfed her as she threw her arms into the air, beaming at him expectantly. He only crossed his eyebrows grouchily. Disappointed, her arms flopped back down onto the desk. 'What's got you in a grump today, Evans?'

'_Potter_,' he warned, the book finally flopping onto the desk and rubbing his face with aggravation, giving a groan. 'I said _not today_.'

'But –'

'You heard what he said, Potter.'

Jane turned around to face familiar cold snarl, her hazel eyes landing on the girl she least wanted to see. Anger, jealousy, and defensive emotions swarmed through her as she shot up from her chair, fingering her wand in her pocket.

Her friends behind the Slytherin sat up with alarm, Saiph looking apprehensive, but Rhea must've told them something because they slowly sat back down, still seemingly alert.

'What're you doing here, _Snappy_?' Jane said, her tone filled with disgust, popping out her hip and tilting her head to look superior. 'The books are damaged enough without your grease on them.'

Snape smirked darkly, pleasure flickering across her black eyes. 'Oh, I'm just here to study with my best friend.'

'Oh, funny, because I was too – you know, with my secure circle of friends that doesn't feel sorry for me.'

Even for Jane, that _was_, admittedly, a new low. She basically insulted her for being a loner, and despite how much she loathed the girl, it wasn't right to point out that someone's disability to socialize. But if she didn't say something, it would make her look weaker than Selena, and she didn't want to look stupid in front of Liam.

Blame the Gryffindor pride.

She heard Liam standing up, and she could picture his face full of rage – eyes flashing, maybe even a bit of disappointment in there, too; swallowing her guilt, she stood her ground, and saw some students crowding around the aisle in the library. Jane was shocked that Pince hadn't noticed anything yet.

She thought her nose could always smell a whiff of marauding a mile away.

Oddly enough, Snape didn't look the slightest offended, crossing her arms and sneering. 'At least I can see what's in front of me without awful 1800th spectacles that make one look so utterly ugly.'

Oh.

_Oh._

'At least I wash my hair,' she retorted, making some of the students laugh around her – even some Slytherins. She cracked a grin at the support.

'Well, my hair stays in place.' Selena strolled towards her, a victorious smile spreading across her lips as she saw Jane's grin falter. '_My _hair doesn't resemble something between Hargid's beard, Dumbledore's raggedy long mop and a Norwegian Ridgeback's nest. Also,' she added, pointing up a finger before she could reply, 'do you have _any_ tits? Any at all? They look like mushrooms! I mean, come _on_! Look!'

Some people started laughing at Jane, even more so than they did with Snape. Jane began to stutter, opening and closing her mouth with embarrassment, feeling her eyes prickle.

'Sel –' Liam began.

'Look at you! So tall, so _thin_!' Snape cackled. Oh, had the tables _turned_ so cruelly, so quickly before she had the time to catch up. 'I don't think we'd need a goal for Quidditch matches, I imagine by next week you'll just have to hoop your arms above your head and that'd be all.'

A crowd had formed. Everyone was smiling, laughing. Liam probably was probably thinking she was an idiot, a foolish brat who get upset despite the fact that she gave people the same thing she was receiving. It was karma coming back around – Snape was feeding her own shit into her mouth.

She wanted to cry in embarrassment. But she was too stubborn to – she didn't want to look weak in front of Liam. Never in a million years would she let him see what she saw in the mirror every day.

So instead anger came.

Her blood boiled, her cheeks burnt and her eyes were clouding with angry tears – yes, of course they were angry tears – she whipped out her wand, non-verbally casting _Levicorpus _and the Slytherin flew straight up by the ankle, her skirt flopping down her shirt as she frantically tried to pull it up to her thighs. Too furious to even fight, she marched around her and stormed out of the library, wiping away the stupid tears that threatened to fall and not waiting for her friends that tried to bustle their way through the crowd.

She didn't know that Liam noticed her crying.

* * *

'Jane, please!' begged Rhea from the other side of the shower stall, her voice being partly drowned out by the noise of the water raining down all over Jane's body. 'You've been in there for over three hours and we're worried about you!'

Another sob escaped her as she sank to the floor, her uniform clinging to her skin and messy hair sticking to her forehead. 'Worry about someone worth worrying about.'

'This isn't like you! You do get down sometimes but not – not _this _down!'

'Get used to it,' she said nasally, sniffing, looking at the droplets repeatedly hit the floor. 'I'm staying in here _forever_, until all of my skin goes wrinkly like it does on my fingers. After that I'll have a cardboard bag over my head and then you'll be too embarrassed to be around me!'

'Jane, you're being _ridiculous_. What if you need the loo?'

'Shit in here, Moony. I'll shit in here.'

She heard Rhea sigh and open the door, not bothering to look up to the sympathetic expression her friend was bound to wear. Jane looked down when she felt Rhea sit herself next to her, her clothes beginning to get soaked as the boiling hot water gravitated down on her, too. She couldn't really see anything out of the corner of her eye – only able to make out blurs, since she left her glasses on her bed.

For a few silent moments the two friends sat in silence, both of them trying to hold back tears; Jane didn't know why Rhea was about to cry – it must've taken a lot to make the werewolf feel that way, after her going through so much in so little time.

'What did she say?' Rhea murmured, resting her head on Jane's shoulder. 'In the library?'

'The truth,' Jane said glumly.

'Jane.'

'It's nothing, nothing you should concern yourself with –'

'_Jane_.'

It was then when she couldn't bear it anymore. 'Are my tits really that small? As small as mushrooms?' she cried, holding back a sob and covering her face in frustration.

'Honey –'

'I _know _this isn't the worst thing that should be on my mind right now. With You-Know-Who bloody killing Muggleborns left and right, and OWLs and McGonagall getting down my back every second of every fucking day – and EVANS!'

'Oh, _Jane_.'

'Don't get me fucking _started _on EVANS! Everything little thing I do he _hates_! I try to impress him but it doesn't work, he sees right through it, I _try _to avoid him but it never works because sometimes he gives me a warning glance that's supposed to be scary but it's so d – damn _gorgeous_.'

'Listen –'

'He hates me, Moony. He's going to love Snappy Snape and have ugly little beak-nosed babies with wonderful green eyes, and they're going to be the happy cute Evans family that runs around and laughs all the time and everyone loves _them _while I'm going to live with CATS.'

'Jane –'

'It's settled. I'm going to turn out to be a lesbian cat lady that shits in her own dirt and screams at small children.'

'Jane!'

She stopped herself from continuing her self-pitying speech, looking at Moony with wide, watery, doe-like eyes and a tad bit guilty, realising she had freely sobbed in front of her werewolf friend (who had it much worse than her) and feeling disproportionally sorry for herself.

'Sorry,' she said guiltily, wiping her eyes.

'Don't be.' Rhea offered a kind, wet smile (was she crying too?), helping to wipe the tears under Jane's eyes. 'It's awful to see you like this. You've hardly been yourself for two whole _weeks_.'

'Sorry –'

'Shut up, Fawn, you big pillock,' Rhea laughed as Jane's lips quirked up into a small smile. 'It's not your fault. It's Snape's – she shouldn't have said those things to you, you don't deserve it. _She_ deserves everything she gets. _Don't_,' she said, not giving her a chance to argue, 'tell me otherwise. You're a wonderful, beautiful person, Jane!'

Jane had the feeling that Rhea was lying to make her feel better, but she appreciated the action anyway. Blushing, Jane shook her head. 'I'm not.'

'Your, err, tits – they'll grow. At least they're not huge double D's.' They both giggled, Rhea fiddling with Jane's damp wisps of hair after turning off the shower. 'And your hair is _sexy _messy – guys dig that type of thing! We're only fifteen, Jane. We'll grow into our actual shape, and you'll be so slim and curvy –'

'You three will.'

'Please don't get me frustrated, Fawn, I'm on my period.' The two girls laughed, the tension ebbing away as Jane stood up and turned the small shower valve to stop the shower from running. Holding out a hand to Rhea, Jane smiled a real smile for the first time in weeks.

The werewolf took the hand when Jane noticed something. 'Why were you crying?'

'Oh.' Rhea knitted her eyebrows, drawing Jane in to a hug. 'I hated seeing you like that. We all did, even Liam.'

'EVEN _EVANS_?!' she exclaimed, stepping out of the embrace and shaking her friend's shoulders. 'WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THIS?!'

'I don't have _facts_, as such,' confessed Rhea, 'but his expressions when he looked at you during lunch says so.'

'He feels _sympathetic_?' she said, biting her lip. 'I didn't want him to feel _sorry_ for me!'

'It's better than hating you.'

'Oh, shut up.'

'Pillock.'

'Bollocks.'

'Cry baby.'

'Now you took it too far, Loopy.'

'Can you _not_?'

* * *

**Yeah, last time I called her Bambi? See the note for last chapter for explanation :P**

**So Jane is a very, _very _insecure Jane at the moment, like all teenagers are. Liam gets his first clue on how Jane really is. I know it's only 3 segments in and it's all _dramadramadrama _but fifth year is the 'shit-goes-down' year. I assure you everything will calm in sixth.**

**Sort of.**

**Favourite line? Favourite character so far? What're you looking forward in seeing? Lemme know! ;3**


	4. Chapter 3 - Notes and Quaffles

3: Notes and Quaffles

"_Nobody can make me cry in public. I'll punch them first before they make my mascara smear."_

―Sandra Bullock

**NOVEMBER, 1974**

The chilly breeze whistled around the Quidditch pitch as Jane cut in between the violent wind, Quaffle tucked tightly under her arm and eyebrows furrowed in concentration, eyes trained on the golden, glorious hoop that stood far from where she flew, looking miniscule and almost humourlessly unintimidating.

Swooping down to avoid a particularly infuriated Emma Vanity's – her short blonde curls looked especially messy in the wind, Jane acknowledged, but she couldn't be the one to preach – merciless Bludger, a smirk stretching across her face when she caught the Slytherin's disgruntled expression. Jane nodded at her as a mocking, casual greeting, and was met with a furious screech and roars of approval from the crowd.

'_Potter_!'

With as much grace as she could possibly manage, she steered her broom to the right, relieved to see Jones and Bones flying above her – she effortlessly tossed the Quaffle in the air for Jones to catch, accelerating forward and not even having time to gather her bearings when she Quaffle landed in her arms again.

She was about to bawl an outraged _why_ when the hoop didn't look too fantastically small anymore – and there grinned Narcis, looking more annoyingly _scary_ than the last time she saw him. Pushing her fear aside, anger grew, spreading through her body like wildfire – she couldn't lose! Not in front of Dickhead _Narcis_!

So, her knowledge flying out the window, she hurled the Quaffle towards the hoop with as much power as she could possibly muster, and –

'POTTER HITS BLACK IN THE FACE!'

Jane laughed outright, pointing at his now pale, bloodied face that would've been handsome given the different circumstance, savouring every last inch of pain on his face – well, the parts that weren't covered by his hands, anyway.

* * *

'I can't _believe _McGonagall gave you detention!' wailed Saiph as soon as Jane exited the Head of House's office, stepping away from the crack in the wall and exasperatingly throwing her hands in the air. Polly nodded furiously in approval as Rhea rolled her eyes, sighing. 'What a bloody _git_!'

'He's not a "git",' Rhea said defensively, mockingly imitating Saiph's immature wail as Jane agreed with a shrug. 'He had every right. I mean, sure, Gryffindor and Slytherin matches are aggressive but you don't throw _Quaffles _into people's _faces._'

'Narcis deserved it, though, didn't he?' said Polly unsurely, looking down the empty hallway, as if expecting Narcis to come charging down to punch her in the face any second. 'After what he did to that poor first year.'

'Bastard of a cousin,' Saiph said darkly, clenching her fist and starting to walk, unknowingly leading the flock of four. 'Such a coward too; Letrix forces him into being stupid. ' She slipped her finger in between her denim skirt and her tucked in red jumper – Jane always was jealous of her fashion sense (despite the fact that she always insisted that it was always common sense) - and retrieved 'You alright about it though, Fawn?'

'Fantastic,' Jane mumbled sarcastically. 'Have fun at Hogsmeade without me.'

Saiph sighed, clearly annoyed, Rhea patting Jane comfortingly on the back. 'We'll bring you back some Butterbeer,' said Rhea, defeated. 'Merlin knows that's what you live on.'

'Wait!' Polly interrupted with a high-pitched squeak, stumbling forwards and stopping, facing the three others. They halted. 'Hogsmeade's next week? And you're not coming?'

'That _was _what I just said,' Jane said, rolling her eyes, not especially having the patience for Polly's lack of intellect when it comes to reading in between the lines.

'But she can't _do _that!'

'She can, she's Head of House.'

'Not head of _Hogsmeade_!'

'She's deputy head of the whole school, Polly.'

'_So_?'

'Can you not last a day without me, Pol?' said Jane, cracking a cocky smile for the first time since the match. Having Polly around did have its perks.

'Of course not!' Polly wailed, turning around and walking again – Jane could see her ears turn bright red. 'You're, like, just like... you know!'

'Yeah! _You know_!' mocked Saiph, making Jane burst into giggles. Rhea scowled.

'You're like – like the rock!'

'_The rock!'_

'We can't march forth without a rock in front of us!'

'Who said we're marching? I can't bloody _march_ in _stilettos_.'

'Stilettos in November, Padfoot?'

'Practicality or fashionality, my friend.'

'That's not even word!' she laughed, before a confused expression scrunched up her face. 'Is it?'

Rhea let out a groan. 'No, fashionality is not a word, it's an urban one. And no, Jane is not a rock. We're all perfectly equal valuable members and that's that,' Rhea said, closing the discussion as they turned into the Great Hall. 'Okay?'

'Gosh, Moony, you need to learn how to learn a joke.'

'I can _so _take a joke.'

'Shut up, Evans.'

'Are you insinuating I am a boy, Miss Black?'

'I'm insinuating that your behaviour is scarily similar to one _look-there's-a-stick-up-my-arse _ginger.'

And that's when Jane stepped in, stomping over and plopping herself onto the bench, not even taking a look at the feast laid in front of her – they were late, as per usual – and glaring playfully at her friends. 'Liam is not a _ginger_,' she moaned, rolling her eyes like it was the most stupidest thing she had ever heard – which indeed it was. 'He's a _redhead_.'

'Same thing, isn't it?' Saiph shrugged, before leaping over the table and slipping in the seat next to her, ignoring the Rhea's breath of complain ('Don't ruin the turkey...') and Polly's screech of laughter from the other side. 'Same colour.'

'No.' She glanced down the table, softly smiling lopsidedly at the familiar shimmer of dark red and hoot of laughter. 'It's not.'

* * *

Entertain me, please. – Your Soulmate

Hello? Earth to Liam? – JP

Oi! Stop laughing at her jokes, will you? She's not even funny. Look at me instead. Or I swear to Merlin I will absolutely throttle you when we leave this classroom. – JP

Hey. Stop with the glaring, too. You don't want get any attention, Evans. Not that you don't have mine (your soulmate's) already. – JP

And also, you should move to this side of the classroom. Much more sun, less shade. Better jokes. There's a spectacular view of Professor Dux from the empty seat beside me. There's even a window. Oh, and there's no Snape. – JP

DON'T SHOW HER MY NOTES! I SENT THEM TO YOU, NOT HER! STOP THAT!– JP

Thank you. I love you. – JP

Right, Evans, I love you even though you have scary teacher's pet habits, but the thing is, you don't understand people like me in classroom situations. This day has been so long and strenuous without you I simply have been unsatisfied with my last minute entertainment methods. – JP

Seriously. I started doodling McGonagall in pink underwear dancing with Dumbledore in a bikini. I disgust myself. – JP

But that doesn't mean that I find pink underwear disgusting. Not at all! I mean, it's your choice what colour you like. Actually, no. Anything but green. Preferably red.

Please wear red underpants. – JP

WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SHOWING HER MY NOTES? MY NOTES! MINE! – JP

I've written you notes for ages, Evans. I think now is a great time you started replying. (Plus, Professor Dux just got distracted in that speech about counter-jinxes because you keep throwing away my precious parchment that I wrote to you. You really need to start appreciating me and my endless love for you, you know. It's starting to make me sad that you don't realise your true feelings towards me yet.) – JP

_Bugger off, Potter. Leave me alone. – LE_

YAY! I BLOODY LOVE YOU, LIAM CHRISTOPHER EVANS! – JP

Oh, don't give me that look. – JP

**You can say its a filler, but it was fun. Heheh.**

**Sorry for the lack of update. I'M TRYING TO UPDATE EVERYTHING AAHH**

**Thanks for all the follows/favourites/story alerts/reviews! I love you guys.**

**Favourite line? Favourite characters? What're you looking forward to seeing? Lemme know! ;3**


	5. Chapter 4 - Hesitant Promises

**I know, sorry for the short chapter and the long wait. But, at least we get the main plot line!**

* * *

4: Hesitant Promises

"_Truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for."_

― Bob Marley

**DECEMBER, 1974**

Jane's guilty pleasure was always witnessing people telling Truths in Truth or Dare. Girls who didn't at all know her assumed she'd love the thrill of dares (it was no secret that _Saiph_ certainly did), and sometimes when the expectations of other pretty girls were too high she would obviously choose the humiliating – possibly dangerous – challenges.

But, that was when she was at the age of six.

'I think – I think I'm in love!' cried Polly, throwing her arms in the air and cackling. Her bright blue eyes looked wild as she expected shocked gasps – and she did albeit faux, get some; once every month she would proclaim her new interest almost as regularly as Rhea's furry nights and Saiph's boyfriends, the phrase used so often that Jane could almost peg the exact moment she would exclaim the five words. 'Oh, Mark McDonald – isn't he _gorgeous_?'

'Absolutely exotic,' Saiph drawled sarcastically, rolling her eyes and lying her head comfortably on Jane's lap – the four on Jane's bed was becoming rather cramped, she realised, for four developing girls. 'Isn't he gay, though?'

Polly looked scandalized. '_No_!' she cried, outraged.

'Oh, Pol,' comforted Rhea. 'We all saw it coming.'

'But – but –'

Jane grinned. 'Still in love now?'

'NO!'

'It'd be terribly romantic if you did, though,' Rhea said, disappointed. As soon as she caught the three's puzzled/disgusted faces, she added, 'No! I mean, you loving him but him loving someone else, you know? Oh, you _know _what I meant –'

'Oh, sort of like Jane and Liam, but not?' said Polly.

Saiph sniggered at the loud thwack of Jane's fist colliding with Polly's arm and Rhea's wince. 'Isn't it weird that _I _wasn't the one who said that?'

'Be glad you weren't,' Jane threatened, glaring at the two and comforting her fist – though, that didn't mean they stopped laughing. 'Okay. Snape – funny. Polly in love with a gay man – funny. Me depressed at unrequited love – NOT FUNNY.'

'Oh, it is.'

'No, it's _not_!

'What's actually happening with the two of you, anyway?' Rhea interrupted, oddly curious – she hardly ever was the one to intrude with things. 'Something's changed.'

Jane scrunched up her nose. She didn't really realise any shift in their relationship at all – she loved him, he hated her, he loved his best friend, she hated aforementioned best friend – you know, the works. 'What'd you mean?'

'_Oh yeah!_ The more I think about it – oh yes, something's weird. With you and Liam,' Polly inferred, surprising them all but thankfully it didn't show. 'Like, before, it was all joking – he knew you were joking, you knew you were joking, happy days! – but now...'

'You're serious,' Saiph finished, looking up at Jane inquisitively with her grey eyes slit sceptically. 'Oddly serious.'

'I've fancied him for over three years,' Jane said bluntly. 'Of course it's bloody serious! It's always been serious!'

'Really?' Rhea asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow.

Jane's first instinct was to scoff an 'of course', but then she hesitated – the first time she'd probably approached him with _that _type of headstrong goal was in third year, whereas in the year prior it _was_, now she thought about it, for fun. In her ideal 12-year-old world, Liam as her prince was the icing on the cake, since, even at the tender age of twelve, she knew she was far too inferior for her to stand a chance. So, she asked him repeatedly to either a) pester him, b) boost up her confidence – not that she needed much more – or c) all of the above.

Now Liam _was _the cake.

Which was... well, depressing.

'Look. I was stupid back then, alright?' said Jane.

'Why are you talking in past tense?' Saiph snickered, earning a flick to the forehead. 'Ow!'

'I just – I just really _want _him now,' she said, tempted to whine and stamp her foot. 'I don't know why. But I just get so jealous and it's so bloody annoying and I hate teenage hormones.'

'Amen!' Polly agreed.

'I think the word you're trying to find is _determined_,' Rhea said, failing miserably at hiding her smile – unlike the other two of her friends, she absolutely adored Jane's complicated relationship with Liam.

'No, the word you're looking for is _freakily obsessed_,' Saiph corrected, sitting up from Jane's lap and nearly head-butting her in the process. 'You need to stop. It's becoming scary. You're so much better than that arsehole, anyway.'

Jane's cheeks reddened. 'He's not an arsehole!'

'You've asked him out a total of 157 times,' Rhea said frankly. 'What makes you think he'll agree anytime soon?'

Nothing. She had _nothing_ except from her hormonal teenage moods and the flip-flop of her stomach and the lurch of her heart whenever he passed her in the hallways and the brilliant shade of red and the beautiful twinkle of emerald.

That's all she thought about. It hardly occurred to her that there had to be mutual attraction for there to be any type of non-platonic/non-enemies relationship, and so far she held no qualities Liam could ever fall for.

Why would anyone go out with a flat-chested, messy-haired, insensitive, spectacled idiot like her, anyway?

A determined flare ignited in her hazel eyes, and before she knew it, she blurted: 'Watch your words. He'll be going out with me by the end of sixth year, you'll see.'

'That's, what, a year and a half away?' Rhea calculated. 'That's a long time.'

'Too short for Evans,' Saiph snorted, clearly disapproving of the redhead.

'No, seriously. I'll be jumping into his arms and we'll be snogging and shagging before we even start NEWTS,' she said, cringing internally at how shallow she sounded; she knew that she didn't feel that way at all. She only wanted him to say those precious three words to her – even if he didn't mean it. 'I promise you.'

'I'm not taking that promise seriously,' Saiph said, getting up from the bed and flopping down to hers across the room, which had various Witch Weekly posters of sexy Quidditch players loitered around the wall next to it. 'Really, I'm not. You'll either grow tired of it all or he'll go off on one.'

'Saiph, don't be so cruel,' Rhea sighed, before marching over to her own bed beside Jane's. 'We'll see what happens where Liam's concerned, alright? Don't worry about it, Jane.'

Polly grinned at her as she flew to her bed next to Saiph, letting out a contented muffled sound in her pillow which sounded a lot like _'Sleeeeeeeeeep.'_

'Lights out, then?' Rhea suggested, despite the fact that nobody's opinions were considered and Francine was still out on her prefect rounds (it was Rhea's shift the following night). The candles flickered off at Rhea's whisper of a spell, and once again darkness surrounded them.

It only heightened Jane's worry of hopeless romance further.

* * *

**So Jane and Saiph are little bitches. But us girls _are _bitches at least once in our lives for our hormonal development - James had a bit of growing up to do with his childishness, and so does his female equivalent. **

**But Sirius? He doesn't do the FULL EXTENT of growing up.**

**Hm.**

**Thanksh for the support :)**

**Favourite line? Favourite character so far? What're you looking forward most in seeing? Lemme know!**


End file.
